Muni weeks away from letting babies in strollers on buses

There soon could be babies in strollers in line for Muni (Credit: The Chronicle)

The good news for San Francisco parents? Muni at long last intends to make it easier to bring baby strollers with actual babies in them onto its buses.

The bad news? Like a Muni bus itself, the policy change is on its way — but nobody can say exactly when or why it’s been held up.

For years, official Municipal Transportation Agency policy has let individual bus drivers decide whether to allow a stroller on board. If it is allowed, the baby must be removed and the stroller must be folded. The policy also prohibits parents with strollers from using wheelchair lifts to board a bus.

So the notoriously fractious supervisors — parents and non-parents, Muni riders and non-Muni riders alike — all agreed on the change and spelled out exactly what the new policy should say. That meant implementing it would be as sure a bet as the 38-Geary being stuffed like a sardine can during commute hour, right?

Nope.

Muni recently circulated a “Stroller Guideline Update” among supervisors. Dated June 12, it states that strollers are permitted on all transit vehicles except cable cars and that they can remain open as long as they’re under control of the owner at all times, the brakes are set, they don’t block other passengers’ movement and they’re not in the wheelchair area. Also, parents with strollers may use wheelchair lifts.

Sophie Hayward, a 36-year-old Inner Richmond resident, is the mother of a 2-month-old boy and 20-month girl. She won’t take her children on Muni because hanging on to two little ones and a collapsed stroller is “completely daunting.”

“I’m thrilled,” she said of the eventual policy change. “I still think it’s kind of low-hanging fruit in terms of keeping families in San Francisco, but it’s an easy, free way to make things more manageable for parents.”

But she’ll have to wait a little longer. Muni spokesman Paul Rose said these changes haven’t been communicated to bus drivers.

“Staff is currently working with members of the Board of Supervisors to finalize plans to make Muni more family friendly,” he said. “We should have final details for the new policies in the coming weeks.”

Since the changes are pretty much exactly what the supervisors said they wanted three months ago, it’s unclear why more discussion is needed.

Chiu said he’s pleased — mostly.

“While I wonder why it took so long, I’m glad the MTA is taking this simple but important step to help our families use public transit,” he said.

More than three months to figure out how to allow parents to take baby strollers with babies in them on buses? Just imagine how long it’ll take city officials to figure to out affordable housing, affordable day care and an easier school assignment system.